Discouraged!

Maria it's not silly to be afraid. We all have fears and nobody here will give you a hard time about it. You're right that your reading was higher because your blood test was after eating. That's to be expected. The pills will help your pancreas to make more insulin and you should start to feel better. There's nothing I can tell you that will help with the blood test in your arm but the good news is that you shouldn't have to do it too often. You may need to have it done more often in the beginning but then it gets less often. I only have to go in 3 times a year now for blood work. Your blood glucose will always be higher after you eat - that's normal. Just find out what the normal range is in British terms so you will know how you're doing when you start testing yourself. I know this is all a lot to take in at one time so be patient with yourself.

I forgot to mention, in the UK they say "4 is the floor", since that is about as low as we should want to go. It equals 72 mg/dl, which is close to the 70 mg/dl that is often given as the lowest we should want to go here.